Vision to Reality

 

I remember the days and weeks after we decided to sell our big home on Elma Street in Okotoks. It was a time of visioning and distilling down to core principles. What criterion would determine our next step?  Certain things rose to the top like being in a downtown core and it being a walkable neighbourhood. Access to nature was important. Reducing and/or eliminating our debt load emerged as a priority as we weighed our options. 

Shortly after seeing our current lot in downtown High River, both of us zeroed in on the vision that SEED Homes was sharing at that spring's trade show in Okotoks. An environmentally sustainable design, a robust steel structure inspired by the company's industrial heritage, and a price point that would make being debt free within reach. We had our first meeting at the nascent SEED Homes just a few days later and began the journey that brought us to today. 

Heather dived into the design process almost immediately. Starting with the total dimensions of the home and working within the lot restrictions that would be imposed if we purchased the parcel in High River, a home began to take shape in her mind and on paper. 

Before pulling the trigger on the lot purchase, we had to have some confidence that the Town of High River would be amenable to this new type of modular construction. Once we had that approval, things moved forward with both the purchase of the land and our construction commitment with SEED Homes. 

I'm not going to lie. The months that followed were an emotional roller coaster. While getting ready to depart our home on Elma Street we had to do some serious down-sizing, while concurrently making decisions about the house design and all the elements it would contain. Heather took the lead on this process and spent hours and hours in her mind, walking through the various rooms and yard of the new build. Those cerebral tours informed both the layout of the home and studio and how the two buildings would sit on the lot.

Flash forward a full year and all those things she envisioned in her mind have become reality. I've spent the entire week working on the amazing brick pathway design that she created linking the side deck of the house to the small deck on the south side of the studio building. Comprised of some 1,200 recovered bricks and about 2,000 pounds of sands, the pathway will undoubtedly be a feature of this property.

"How will it be for shovelling?" someone asked today.

"It will be super easy," I said. 

It's easy to not take into consideration decisions made in the heat of summer and how they might impact things when the snow starts to fall. However, Heather and I are both pretty good about anticipating the various weather changes in our choices. 

We are also both intentional about creating the right energy. As we intend to host lots of guests in the studio and the Bird's Nest, our small 250 sq ft Airbnb suite, we want people to feel comfortable, welcomed and inspired when they visit or stay. The curvy brick pathway is part of that experience. Heather has installed rope lighting along the fence that will enhance the vibe of the yard. 

The last piece to our development process will be the dressing of the Bird's Nest. We are awaiting some fixes to some of the interior finishings before that happens. Our hope is that it is ready to go within a couple of weeks. 

Darren from SEED Homes was on site for the past week installing exterior trim around the windows and doors. That finishing touch makes a world of difference on the look of the buildings. They now look finished.

I am blessed because Heather had a fantastic vision. She mentally walked through the house and yard months before construction started, debating choices and finding the right layout, elements and finishings that would create a wonderful living and working space for us and the many guests who will visit and stay over the years. 

With landscaping in place, and a number of plants in the ground, the aesthetic will only be enhanced with each growing season. This is not the end of our SEED Home journey. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Our future of living will continue to unfold in High River.